Choose between Radial's award-winning racks for ultimate control over your signal path. Compatible with all 500 series modules, Radial racks are equipped with extra features for greater connectivity plus resettble electronic fuses to keep your gear safe!

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ChainDrive™ Using & Applications

The ChainDrive is exceptionally easy to use. You plug it into your 500 series power rack, connect the outputs to your target audio devices, adjust the levels and you are set to go. The following page details how all of this works. For those that have a quench for extra information, we invite you to download the manual by clicking on the icon at left.

Setting up

Before you make any connections or plug the ChainDrive into your 500 series rack, make sure you have turned all audio levels down and have turned the power off to your 500 series rack. Hot-swapping or plugging in modules when power is on can damage them or shorten the life of the card edge connector. To plug in, carefully align the card edge to the 15 pin receptacle and gently push the module in until it is properly seated. Using the supplied Phillips screws; mount the module immediately to ensure that it does not get dislodged when plugging cables in and out. Do not over-tighten or cross-thread! Make sure the four level controls are turned off or fully counter-clockwise before you begin testing.

Connect the source to the XLR input connector on the rear of your power rack. If you are equipped with a Radial 500 series power rack, you can also use the ¼" TRS connectors, the D-Subs or the Omniport as a source input. The TRS and D-subs are wired in parallel with the XLR and are balanced inputs. The Omniport is an unbalanced input that is equipped with electronics to buffer the signal and balance it so that it may be manipulated following the original 500 series spec. The Omniport is a switching jack which means that when you plug a cable into this input, it will turn off the other inputs.

Connect output-1 from the ChainDrive to your first audio device. Slowly increase the gain until you reach a comfortable listening level. Repeat for outputs 2, 3 and 4.

Using a balanced source

As described above, the most common connection would be to feed the ChainDrive using a balanced source. This is typically done using an XLR connector. If you have a Workhorse, you can also use the TRS or D-Sub connectors depending on how your audio system is configured. These three connections are wired in parallel which means that they can also be used as thru-puts for mults.

Using an unbalanced source

The ChainDrive can also be used to distribute the signal from an unbalanced source. This would usually be connected via the ¼" TRS connector that is commonly found on most 500 series power racks. Plugging into the ChainDrive this way will deliver an unbalanced signal to the 4 outputs.

If you have a Radial Workhorse, you can also connect an unbalanced source to the ChainDrive via the Omniport connector. The ChainDrive will balance this source and then deliver a balanced signal to each of the four outputs.

Using a stereo source

At one point, you may need a way to send a stereo source to several destinations. In a commercial installation, this could be used to feed four different PA systems in separate rooms. In the studio, you may want to take the stereo output from your recorder and feed it to four different stereo processors. Simply patch a ¼" TRS connector into the balanced input with Tip-Left, Ring-Right and a common ground and the ChainDrive will distribute the signal as a full stereo set, unbalanced of course.